Movie Review – The Good Dinosaur (and The Pixar Theory)

Okay, yeah, this Pixar film was pretty, but not as pretty as Disney’s The Lion King, which it also managed to…ahem…totally rip off. It’s also very reminiscent of Dreamwork’s initial Toothless scenes in How to Train Your Dragon.

It’s got some cute moments, and an interesting take on the feral dog boy. He’s a hoot, and seems smarter and more useful than Arlo, the useless titular young Apatosaur.

And from time to time, the story gives us some insight about how dinosaurs might have evolved culturally if that meteor skipped Earth entirely. But I didn’t really buy it. The world-building wasn’t there. This ended up being a buddy travel movie. There was some cleverness, but not up to the level I expect from a Pixar classic.

-----Content continues below------

The World's Most Indispensable Movie App

The RunPee app tells you the best times to run & pee during a movie so you don't miss the best scenes.

Why You Should See The Good Dinosaur Anyway

The only reason I saw The Good Dinosaur: I watched a bunch of videos on The Pixar Theory, and the Cretaceous Era is kind of where the possibly interlinked overarcing story begins. So I found a copy of The Good Dinosaur (and it’s on Netflix right now, so catch it before Disney Plus steals it for their own private channel). I played it while cleaning my room (it’s not gripping enough to really sit and watch, no matter how amusing Sam Elliot is as a T-Rex herding longhorns).

By the way, The Good Dinosaur is an awful name for for movie. Did the producers really not care at all? What does that even mean?

The movie is mostly just sweet. Not bad. In fact, it’s slightly better than average. But I expect far better from Pixar.

For the first time, I’ll give a movie two grades, depending on how savvy and discerning you are in the animation genre.

Movie Grade for adults: C+

Movie Grade for Kiddoes: B (Gentle film, gentle humor, and hey, it only might make you cry.)

Don’t miss your favorite movie moments because you have to pee or need a snack. Use the RunPee app (Android or iPhone ) whenever you go to the movies. (We've been doing this over 10 years now.) We always have Peetimes for the latest wide release films, including OnWard, 1917, Sonic the Hedgehog, etc. You can also keep up with the latest movie news and reviews on our blog or by following us on Twitter @RunPee, and liking us on Facebook.

You might also like...

1 thought on “Movie Review – The Good Dinosaur (and The Pixar Theory)”

One thing I did appreciate were the scenes in what appeared to be: Yellowstone, The Grand Tetons, the Desert Southwest, and….possibly Yosemite before the glaciers scoured it out. I’m not sure on that last one, but that’s pretty cool geology-wise if that was deliberate.